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Weather Forecast

Driven by strong gusting winds, snow swirled near Voyager Elementary School Monday afternoon. Schools throughout the area were closed and another day was added to the school year. (Photo by Lowell Anderson)

That seemed to be the collective mood in Douglas County Monday after another winter storm wrecked routines, closed roads and schools, and froze any notions of spring.

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This time around, the storm didn't deliver tons of snow. Totals varied widely throughout the county, ranging from two to six inches.

But howling winds, some gusting up to 50 miles per hour, created thigh-high drifts across driveways and whiteout conditions in open areas.

Schools throughout the area closed Monday. There's no longer much cause for students to celebrate "snow days" off, however, since they'll have to make up for it at the end of the year.

Alexandria School District 206, for example, had two snow days built into its calendar (late starts or early dismissals don't count) and used both of them up before the March 15 and March 18 storms. So now, instead of school ending on Wednesday, May 29, it will be prolonged until Friday, May 31. And that's assuming there will be no more snow days in the weeks ahead.

Several businesses again closed up shop early or didn't open at all on Monday. The Viking Plaza Mall closed, along with Midway Cinema 9, several banks, the YMCA, the AAAA Theatre, the Alexandria Senior Center, the Outreach Food Shelf and other locations.

Al Edenloff is the news and opinion page editor for the Echo Press. He was born in Alexandria and lived most of his childhood in Parkers Prairie. He graduated with honors from Moorhead State University with a degree in mass communications, print journalism. He interned at the Echo Press in the summer of 1983 and was hired a year later as a sports reporter. He also worked as a news reporter/photographer. Al is a four-time winner of the Minnesota Newspaper Association's Herman Roe Award, which honors excellence in editorial writing.